Meet Captain James Fritzen Taylor, The Southwest Pilot Ranter

So we now have a name and a face to put to the voice heard around the world — the prick of a Southwest pilot whose hateful thoughts on the "gays, grannies and grandes" of the flight crew were accidentally broadcast and caught on tape for all to hear.

His name is Capt. James Fritzen Taylor and he hails from the town of Argyle, Texas. Taylor, who in the rant complained that two "chicks" from work refused to sleep with him, lives with his wife and two children, aged 18 and 20. How proud they must be of their dad.

KPRC, who broke the original story, now reports that Taylor — who was suspended without pay and underwent diversity training before returning to his job — has issued a statement of apology to his co-workers.

Because of the impact of my comments, I wanted to communicate with you directly. Please accept my most sincere apology for the inappropriate and disrespectful remarks I made in March with an open microphone. I deeply regret the derogatory remarks I made and the hurt I have caused - I take full responsibility for those comments. It was truly insensitive of me and I would like all of you to know that from now on, I will show nothing but the utmost respect during my interactions with all employees. In addition, I would like to extend a special apology to all Flight Attendants, and especially those of Houston. I hope you will allow me to maintain a working relationship with all of you that will provide me the opportunity to extend an individual, personal apology to each one of you whenever we fly together. Please know that this event has forever changed me and I hope that others can learn from my mistake. I have learned a much-needed lesson to be more sensitive of others and I hope you will see me as a more tolerant and considerate person. I am proud to be employed by Southwest Airlines and I am committed to representing our Company, and its employees in the most professional way possible.

With My Sincere Regards,

Captain James Taylor

Terrible apology! And his co-workers agree — particularly the part about him promising to be more "tolerant" of their various, totally un-bangable lifestyles, ages, and body-types. (Houston gets a special shout-out because he called them "the ugliest group company-wide.")

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, meanwhile, is under heavy fire for not having shitcanned this person who clearly should have been shitcanned. He recorded a voicemail message for the entire company, in which he explained that he hadn't been made aware of the suspension at the time, only learning about it once the story hit the news. But since that was the company's decision, his hands were tied. Right. If Taylor had a shred of decency, which of course we know he does not, he'd have resigned by now. How he still manages to show up to work and face these people every day is beyond all comprehension. [KPRC]